(A Doctor Who Almost Killed, A Baby Who Almost Died.)

The attending physician had a terrible decision to make. Emily Philips was emotionally fragile. The pregnancy sapped nearly all of her strength, too. Emily was in labor. The delivery was hard-very hard! Little Angela was coming into the world as a breach birth. The birth was taking far too long. The umbilical cord was wrapped around Angela’s neck. Oxygen was being cut off from her brain. The physician knew time was running out fast. He wanted to reach in and grab Angela’s legs and wrap a blanket around them, so she wouldn’t start crying at the sudden shock of cold air. He didn’t want Angela to suddenly breathe in amniotic fluid and risk drowning. The legs-where were the legs! He found one-but where was the other? Suddenly, the physician realized that one leg was much shorter than the other. Little Angela would be severely handicapped. Worst of all, Emily would not handle this very well in her delicate emotional state. The family would probably spend everything they had trying to pay for medical treatments Angela would need. For a brief moment, the physician admitted later to a colleague, that he had seriously considered waiting just a little too long to deliver Angela. No one would ever know. Little Angela would die from a lack of oxygen, and everyone would think that the delivery was just too hard on poor Angela-everyone but the physician. His temptation lasted for a long moment, and then passed. The physician just couldn’t bring himself to let this little girl die. She kept struggling to live, and trembled in his hands as he touched her. He brought her out of Emily’s body, and Angela did survive.

Just as the delivering physician feared, what he predicted did happen. Emily and her husband did spend nearly everything they had trying to treat Angela. Emily did not do well emotionally. Little Angela couldn’t run and play with the other children. And, as the physician knew, this too was hard on Angela.

The physician lost touched with Angela and Emily, her mother. A number of years went by. The physician was exhausted after a long day of delivering babies. A colleague confided in him saying that he wondered if letting some of the "difficult" babies die might not be the kinder thing to do. The physician then shared this story, and told his colleague that, in spite of the hardships, he just couldn’t bring himself to take little Angela’s life. 

It was the night of the annual Christmas concert at the hospital. Everyone enjoyed the delightful program. The candles were beautiful, and the music was exquisite. Then, for the final performance of the evening, a harpist came on stage. Her playing brought this tired physician right to the gates of heaven as he listened to this 17-year-old girl perform. Tears filled his eyes as he listened to this incredibly talented girl play.

After the performance, a woman rushed up to the physician and said excitedly, "Do you remember me? I’m Emily!"  The physician said, "Sorry, but no.  You see, I’ve delivered thousands of babies and …" The woman was undeterred and said, "You just have to come with me!" The bewildered and tired physician reluctantly followed Emily toward the stage. Emily introduced the doctor to the harpist and said, "You delivered her 17 years ago!"  The physician said politely, "Oh, I see.  Well, uh, nice to meet you." The woman became even more excited as she said, "You don’t remember, do you!" With that, she took the blanket from Angela’s lap and, then, … the physician saw it! The girl had one leg much shorter than the other! Yes, he remembered! It was the girl he had almost allowed to die. He hugged her with a meaning that only he knew. Angela explained that her handicap had made her have to find something to do that didn’t require running and playing. It allowed her to pour herself into her music. She reassured the physician that everything really had worked out alright after all. Angela and Emily had no idea how tempted this physician had been to simply let Angela take just a little too long to be born. He was especially glad that the emotionally fragile Emily was happy and beaming with joy. He was so happy that Angela really turned out to be an "angel at the harp."

By way of Chris Hansen:

Author of several books:

"Revelation Revisited," tells the amazing story in the book of "Revelation," as if John were retelling his story in the first person for an audience of today. John meets Jesus in all his glory and sees visions of the end of the world.

"Secret of the Psalms," shows how the life of Jesus was predicted in astounding detail hundreds of years in the "Psalms" of Israel. This book will build confidence in the reliability of the Bible or perhaps introduce someone to the Bible for the first time.

"Grandfather’s Journal," is an illustrated children’s book that tells the touching and humorous story of a young boy who just can’t understand why his parents make him go to church every single week!  Then, quite by accident, or so he thinks, the boy discovers his grandfather’s journal. Grandfather, too, didn’t like church-that is until something very dramatic changed his mind. That "something" turned out to be the real resurrection of Jesus. The young boy had been traumatized by a funeral, and was terrified of death. Suddenly this young boy discovered that Jesus provided real hope of living forever and ever.